SS SCS HCS#2 HB 1692, 1209, 1405, 1499, 1535 & 1811 -- REAL
ESTATE; ELECTRONIC DEATH REGISTRATIONS; CEMETERIES; ARCHITECTS,
ENGINEERS, AND SURVEYORS; MECHANIC'S LIENS; CHILD SUPPORT; CLEAN
ENERGY PROJECTS; AND APPRAISERS

This bill changes the laws regarding real estate; electronic
death registrations; cemeteries; architects, engineers, land
surveyors, and landscape architects; mechanic's liens; and child
support and establishes the Property Assessment Clean Energy Act
and the Missouri Appraisal Management Company Registration and
Regulation Act.

REAL ESTATE

The bill:

(1)  Requires the Office of the State Land Surveyor within the
Department of Natural Resources to establish rules setting
minimum standards for digital cadastral parcel mapping.  Any map
designed and used to reflect legal property descriptions or
boundaries for use in a digital cadastral mapping system must
comply with the rules established by the office with certain
exceptions (Section 60.670, RSMo);

(2)  Prohibits any school district located in the City of
Chesterfield from operating a materials recovery and recycling
facility within 500 feet of a residential property (Section
171.185);

(3)  Specifies that the provisions of Section 262.802 regarding
the abeyance of water and sewer assessments until certain
farmland property is connected to the system will not apply to
any drainage or levee district established under state law
(Section 246.310);

(4)  Specifies that the term "employment" as it relates to
unemployment compensation will not include services performed by
a licensed real estate salesperson or licensed real estate broker
if substantially all, instead of the current at least 80%, of the
remuneration, whether or not paid in cash, for the services
performed, rather than to the number of hours worked, is directly
related to sales or other output, including the performance of
services, performed pursuant to a written contract between the
individual and the person for whom the services are performed and
the contract provides that the individual will not be treated as
an employee with respect to the services for federal tax purposes
(Section 288.034);

(5)  Adds the determination of land boundaries and positions of
the United States Public Land Survey System and the creation,
preparation, and modification of electronic or computerized data
to the list of work or services that a professional land surveyor
can perform (Section 327.272);

(6)  Changes the laws regarding the regulation of a real estate
broker and salesperson to include a limited partnership, limited
liability company, or professional corporation and specifies that
"real estate broker" will include these types of companies and
"real estate salesperson" will include a limited liability
company, partnership, limited partnership, association,
professional corporation, or corporation.  The bill creates a new
category of license for a real estate broker-salesperson and
prohibits a real estate broker-salesperson from also operating as
a real estate broker (Sections 339.010, 339.170, and 339.710);

(7)  Defines "boat slip" or "watercraft slip" for the purposes of
the Real Estate Appraisers Act as a defined area of water which
is a part of a boat dock serving a common interest community and
is to be considered real property.  The rights of a real estate
owner in a slip are to be included as collateral in any deed of
trust and uniform commercial code filing of a lender taking a
security interest in the owner's real estate (Section 339.503);

(8)  Requires the Missouri Real Estate Commission within the
Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions and Professional
Registration upon receiving notice from the Director of the
Department of Revenue that a licensee is delinquent in paying his
or her taxes to immediately send a copy of the notice to the real
estate broker with whom the licensee is associated (Section
339.845);

(9)  Exempts a tenant from liability for rent payments during the
remainder of the term of a lease agreement when his or her
residence is destroyed by an act of God or other natural or
man-made disaster unless the tenant caused the disaster (Section
441.645);

(10)  Requires all public advertisements and orders of
publication required by law, including amendments to the Missouri
Constitution, legal publications affecting sales of real estate
under a power of sale in a mortgage or deed of trust, and other
legal publications affecting the title to real estate, to be
published in a newspaper of general circulation (Section
493.055); and

(11)  Requires the court or jury to visit the property alleged to
be affected by a nuisance in an action for private nuisance where
the amount in controversy exceeds $1 million whenever any party
requests a visit be made (Section 537.296).

PROPERTY ASSESSMENT CLEAN ENERGY ACT (Sections 67.2800 - 67.2835)

The Property Assessment Clean Energy Act is established which:

(1)  Authorizes one or more municipalities to form a clean energy
development board to establish a property assessed clean energy
program to finance energy efficiency or renewable energy
improvement projects.  A property owner can apply to the board to
finance the costs of the project through an annual special
assessment to be collected with his or her property tax for up to
20 years;

(2)  Requires the board to consist of at least three members.
The number of board members and their terms are to be specified
in the ordinance or order establishing the board.  If only one
municipality is participating in the board, the chief elected
officer will appoint board members with the consent of the
governing body.  If more than one municipality is participating,
members will be appointed in a manner agreed to by all
participating municipalities;

(3)  Requires the board to be a political subdivision of the
state and have all powers necessary to carry out the provisions
of the act;

(4)  Requires the board to submit an annual report by July 1 to
each municipality that participated in the formation of the board
and the Director of the Department of Natural Resources.  The
report must include a brief description of each project financed
by the board, the amount of assessments due and the amount
collected, the board's administrative costs, the estimated
cumulative energy savings from the projects financed during the
preceding year, and the estimated cumulative energy produced by
all renewable energy improvements financed during the preceding
year;

(5)  Specifies that no lawsuit to set aside the formation or to
otherwise question the proceedings related to the formation of
the board may be brought after 60 days from the effective date of
the ordinance or order establishing the board.  No lawsuit can be
brought to set aside the approval of a project, an assessment
contract, or a special assessment levied by a clean energy
development board after 60 days from the date that the assessment
contract is executed;

(6)  Specifies the contractual requirements for any assessment
contract between the board and the benefitted property owner or
owners;

(7)  Specifies that the total special assessments levied against
a property under an assessment contract cannot exceed the total
cost of the project including any required energy audits and
inspections;

(8)  Requires the board to provide a copy of the signed
assessment contract to the local county assessor and collector,
as well as ensure that a copy of the assessment contract is
recorded with the county recorder of deeds;

(9)  Specifies that the special assessments agreed to under the
contract will be a lien on the property against which it is
assessed on behalf of the board.  The assessments will be
collected by the county collector in the same manner as other
real property taxes;

(10)  Authorizes a board to issue bonds payable from special
assessment revenues; and

(11)  Authorizes the Director of the Department of Economic
Development to allocate any portion of the state's residual share
of the national qualified energy conservation bond limitation
under Section 54D of the Internal Revenue Code to specified state
and local entities.

ELECTRONIC DEATH REGISTRATION SYSTEM (Sections 193.145 and
193.265)

All data providers in the death registration process, including
the State Registrar, local registrars, medical examiners,
coroners, funeral directors, embalmers, sheriffs, physicians,
chief medical officers of licensed health care facilities, and
other institutions providing medical care, are required to use an
electronic death registration system within six months of it
being certified by the Director of the Department of Health and
Senior Services to be operational and available to all data
providers.

The State Registrar may adopt pilot programs or voluntary
electronic death registration programs until the system can be
certified.  However, no pilot or voluntary program can prevent
the filing of a death certificate with the local registrar or the
ability to obtain a certified copy of a death certificate under
current law until six months after the system is certified as
operational.

ENDOWED CARE CEMETERIES (Sections 214.160 - 214.550)

The bill:

(1)  Allows a county commission that serves as the trustee of a
trust fund for a cemetery to invest moneys in the fund in
certificates of deposit;

(2)  Repeals the requirement that any court action to grant an
injunction, restraining order, or other order to bring suit
against a cemetery operator upon application by the Division of
Professional Registration within the Department of Insurance,
Financial Institutions and Professional Registration must be
commenced in the county in which the illegal action occurred or
in the county in which the operator resides;

(3)  Requires all contracts sold by cemetery operators for
cemetery services or for graves, cemetery markers, crypts, and
other burial receptacles to meet certain requirements.  If these
requirements are not met, all payments will be recoverable by the
purchaser plus 10% interest and any reasonable collection costs
including attorney fees;

(4)  Requires any person, entity, association, or political
subdivision that purchases, receives, or holds real estate used
for the burial of human remains, excluding a family burial
ground, to notify the Office of Endowed Care Cemeteries within
the department of the name, location, and address of the real
estate before October 1, 2010, or within 30 days of acquiring the
land;

(5)  Exempts cemetery operators from the provisions of
Chapter 436 regarding prearranged funeral contracts for the sale
of cemetery services or for graves, cemetery markers, crypts, and
other burial receptacles but prohibits them from adjusting or
establishing the price of items with the intent of evading the
trust or escrow provisions of the chapter.  Provisions related to
deposits into endowed care trust funds based on the sales price
of certain products are revised;

(6)  Removes the provisions requiring a financial institution
serving as the trustee of an endowed care trust to be located in
Missouri but requires all activities of the trust to be
controlled by Missouri law and all funds held in trust to remain
in Missouri;

(7)  Requires a cemetery operator to notify the division in
writing at least 30 days prior to selling a majority of the
business assets of a cemetery or a majority of its stock.  If the
division does not disapprove, the operator may complete the
transaction;

(8)  Allows, for agreements entered into after August 28, 2010, a
cemetery prearranged merchandise products contract to be canceled
within 30 days of receipt of the executed contract and requires
all payments to be fully refunded with certain exceptions;

(9)  Allows the division to direct a trustee, financial
institution, or escrow agent to suspend the distribution of money
from an endowed care trust fund or escrow account if the cemetery
operator is not licensed, has failed to file an annual report, or
has failed to file a corrective action plan after an audit has
revealed a deficiency.  The cemetery operator may appeal the
suspension; and

(10)  Exempts, if a cemetery was owned by a city, any subsequent
cemetery owner from liability for any deficiency existing prior
to the city's ownership.  Currently, this applies only to a
cemetery in St. Louis City.

ARCHITECTS, ENGINEERS, LAND SURVEYORS, AND LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS
(Sections 327.031 - 327.411)

The bill:

(1)  Increases the membership of the Missouri Board for
Architects, Professional Engineers, Professional Land Surveyors
and Landscape Architects within the Department of Insurance,
Financial Institutions and Professional Registration from 14 to
15 by adding one more professional engineer;

(2)  Allows a landscape architect to serve as the chairperson of
the board;

(3)  Gives all rights, powers, and duties available to the
members of the architectural and professional engineering
divisions of the board to the members of the professional land
surveying and landscape architectural divisions of the board;

(4)  Allows certain faculty members of an accredited school of
landscape architecture to serve on the board;

(5)  Repeals the requirement that the board cannot summon or
subpoena a witness or documents on a matter under a hearing or
investigation without the advice of the Attorney General;

(6)  Establishes a sequential rotation for the appointment of a
chairperson to the board;

(7)  Limits a chairperson to one, four-year term;

(8)  Authorizes the President of the Missouri Association of
Landscape Architects to fill a board vacancy for a landscape
architect as other state associations are allowed to do for their
professions;

(9)  Allows a person holding an inactive license as a
professional land surveyor to use that title or the initials
"PLS" after his or her name; and

(10)  Requires a licensee to prepare or personally supervise the
preparation of all documents containing his or her personal seal
and to perform services only when he or she is qualified by
education, training, and experience in the specific technical
areas involved.

MISSOURI APPRAISAL MANAGEMENT COMPANY REGISTRATION AND REGULATION
ACT (Sections 339.1100 - 339.1240)

The Missouri Appraisal Management Company Registration and
Regulation Act is established to regulate real estate appraisal
management companies.  The bill:

(1)  Prohibits any person from directly or indirectly engaging or
attempting to engage in the business of real estate appraisal
management or from advertising or holding himself or herself out
as engaging in or conducting business as an appraisal management
company without being registered with the Missouri Real Estate
Appraisers Commission within the Department of Insurance,
Financial Institutions and Professional Registration.  The
registration will be valid for two years from its issuance;

(2)  Allows the commission to adopt the necessary rules to
implement, administer, and enforce the provisions of the bill;

(3)  Requires an entity applying for a registration as an
appraisal management company to complete an irrevocable Uniform
Consent to Service of Process, pay the fee as established by the
commission, post and maintain a $20,000 surety bond, and certify
certain ownership information.  No more than 10% of any company
applying for a registration may be owned by a person or entity
who has had a license or certificate refused, denied, canceled,
revoked, or surrendered in lieu of a pending revocation in any
state.  Anyone with more than 10% ownership in an appraisal
management company must be of good moral character and submit to
a background investigation;

(4)  Requires the company to notify the commission within 30 days
of a change in its controlling principal, agent of record, or
ownership composition;

(5)  Requires each appraisal management company to designate one
compliance manager who will be the main contact for all
communications between the commission and the company;

(6)  Prohibits an appraisal management company from employing or
contracting with a person who has had an appraiser license or
certificate in Missouri or in any other state refused, denied,
canceled, revoked, or surrendered in lieu of a pending
revocation;

(7)  Requires an appraisal management company, prior to placing
an assignment for real estate appraisal services, to have a
system in place to verify that the appraiser holds a credential
in good standing with the State of Missouri.  The letters of
engagement must include instructions to the appraiser to decline
the assignment in the event the appraiser is not geographically
competent or the assignment falls outside his or her scope of
practice restrictions.  Each registered company must certify
biannually that it has a system and process in place to verify
that an individual being added to the appraiser panel of the
company holds a license in good standing in Missouri and that an
individual to whom the company is making an appraisal assignment
has not had an appraiser license or certification refused,
denied, canceled, revoked, or surrendered in lieu of a pending
revocation on a regular basis; that it has a system in place to
perform an appraisal review on a periodic basis to validate that
the appraisals are being conducted in accordance with Uniform
Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP); and that it
maintains a detailed record of each service request and the
report of each appraiser who performs an appraisal for the
company;

(8)  Requires an appraisal management company to separately state
to the client all fees paid to an appraiser and the fees charged
by the company for services associated with the management of the
appraisal process.  Fees must be paid to the appraiser within 30
days of the date the appraisal is completed with certain
exceptions;

(9)  Prohibits an employee, director, officer, or agent of an
appraisal management company from influencing or attempting to
influence the development, reporting, or review of an appraisal
through coercion, extortion, collusion, compensation,
instruction, inducement, intimidation, bribery, or any other
manner;

(10)  Requires the commission to issue a unique registration
number to each appraisal management company and to publish a list
of all companies that have registered and have been issued a
number;

(11)  Allows the commission to censure an appraisal management
company, conditionally or unconditionally suspend or revoke any
registration issued under Sections 339.1100 - 339.1240, or impose
civil penalties of up to $1,000 for each offense, with a maximum
penalty of $10,000.  In determining the amount of the penalty to
be imposed, the commission may consider if a company is:

(a)  Knowingly committing any act in violation of Sections
339.1100 - 339.1240;

(b)  Violating any rule adopted by the commission; or

(c)  Procuring a license by fraud, misrepresentation, or deceit;
and

(12)  Requires the commission before censuring any registrant or
suspending or revoking any registration to notify the registrant
in writing of any charges made at least 20 days before the
hearing and to afford the registrant an opportunity to be heard
in person or by counsel.  Written notice will be satisfied by
personal service on the controlling person of the registrant or
the registrant's agent for service of process in this state or by
sending the notice by certified mail, return receipt requested,
to the address on file with the commission of the controlling
person of the registrant.

MECHANIC'S LIENS AGAINST RESIDENTIAL REAL PROPERTY (Section
429.016)

Procedures are established for asserting a mechanic's lien
against residential real property other than a mechanic's lien
for the repair, remodeling, or addition to owner-occupied
residential property of four units or less.  In its main
provisions, the bill:

(1)  Requires a claimant seeking to retain the right to assert a
mechanic's lien against residential real property to record a
notice of rights with the recorder of deeds in the county in
which the property is located not less than five days prior to
the intended date of closing stated in a notice of intended sale
as contemplated in these provisions.  A claimant who is correctly
identified in a previously recorded notice of rights recorded as
to the property is relieved of his or her duty to record a notice
of rights.  Any claimant failing to record a notice of rights
will be deemed to waive and forfeit any right to assert a
mechanic's lien against the property but will retain the rights
and remedies allowed by law to collect payment for any work,
labor, and materials;

(2)  Requires a notice of rights to comply with the provisions of
Section 59.310 and to be in a form as specified in the bill;

(3)  Requires the title owner of residential real property who
has contracted with a claimant for the performance or provision
of work, labor, or materials for the improvement of the property
in order to facilitate the sale of the property to record with
the recorder of deeds for the county in which the property is
located a notice of intended sale not less than 45 days prior to
the earliest date the owner intends to close on the sale of the
property.  The notice must state the date on which the owner
intends to close.  Recording the notice is a condition precedent
to a claimant's obligation to record a notice of rights as to the
subject property in order to retain a claimant's mechanic's lien
rights as to the property.  The owner or designated agent must
provide a copy of the notice to any claimant within five days
after receiving a written request from the claimant and must post
a copy of the notice on the subject property, at an entrance to
the subject property, or at any jobsite office located at or near
the subject property.  If the owner or agent fails to comply with
these provisions, the claimant will be entitled to receive his or
her actual and reasonable costs, excluding attorney fees, to
obtain the necessary legal description for the claimant to record
his or her notice of rights.  The owner or agent's failure to
post, mail, or transmit the required information will not relieve
the claimant from his or her obligation to record a notice of
rights in order to retain his or her mechanic's lien rights as to
the property.  The owner or agent will not be liable to any
claimant or other person for an error, omission, or inaccuracy in
the content of the information provided and disclosed by the
owner or agent with certain specified exceptions;

(4)  Specifies that a claimant satisfies the just and true
account requirement in Section 429.080 by providing the following
information and documentation as part of the mechanic's lien
claim filed with the clerk of the circuit court:

(a)  A photocopy of the file-stamped notice of rights and any
renewals of notice of rights recorded by or identifying the
claimant;

(b)  The name and address of the person the claimant contracted
with to perform the work;

(c)  A copy of any contract, purchase order, or proposal and any
agreed change order or modification to the agreement;

(d)  A general description of the scope of work agreed to be
performed in the absence of any written agreement;

(e)  All invoices submitted by a claimant for work on the
property;

(f)  An accurate statement of account showing all payments or
credits against the amount due for work performed and the
calculation or basis for the amount claimed; and

(g)  The last date that work or labor was performed or any
materials or equipment provided;

(5)  Allows any person having interest in a residential real
property against which a mechanic's lien has been filed to
release the property from lien by depositing in the office of the
circuit clerk a sum of money in cash or certified check; an
irrevocable letter of credit issued by a federally or
state-chartered bank, savings and loan association, or savings
bank authorized to and doing business in Missouri; or a surety
bond of at least 150% of the amount of the mechanic's lien being
released and by recording with the recorder of deeds and filing
with the circuit clerk the amount of the deposit including the
claimant's name and the amount being released on the property;

(6)  Specifies that a deposit of substitute collateral and
release of a claimant's mechanic's lien claim will not modify any
aspect of the priority of the claimant's interest or obligations
regarding enforcement of a mechanic's lien claim nor will it
relieve any claimant of potential liability for slander of title
or otherwise due to the filing of a claimant's mechanic's lien;

(7)  Allows a claimant to waive his or her right to assert a
mechanic's lien by executing a partial or full waiver of
mechanic's lien rights, but this waiver will not be deemed to
waive or release a mechanic's lien rights in exchange for a
lesser payment unless the mechanic's lien waiver is an
unconditional, final mechanic's lien waiver in compliance with
these provisions;

(8)  Specifies that an unconditional, final mechanic's lien
waiver will only be valid if it is on a form as specified in the
bill; and

(9)  Requires any claimant who has recorded a notice of rights
and who has been paid in full for the work performed to timely
execute an unconditional, final mechanic's lien waiver; to not
unreasonably withhold the waiver when circumstances require
prompt execution; and to in no event fail to provide a waiver any
later than five days after the claimant's receipt of a written
request to do so by any person or entity.  A claimant who fails
or refuses to timely execute an unconditional, final lien waiver
when he or she has been paid in full will be presumed liable for
slander of title and for any damages sustained as a result,
together with a statutory penalty of $500.

These provisions will apply to any residential real property
conveyance closing on or after November 1, 2010.

CHILD SUPPORT (Sections 452.340, 454.475, 454.517, 454.557, and
454.1003)

The bill:

(1)  Requires the hearing officer, when making a determination of
the amount of a parent's financial responsibility, to consider
the factors in Section 452.340.  Currently, the officer must use
the scale and formula for minimum support obligations established
by the Department of Social Services under Section 454.480;

(2)  Requires a notice issued by an agency entitled to receive
and disburse child support payments in Missouri to advise the
obligor of the procedures available to contest a lien on the
obligor's workers' compensation benefits on the grounds that the
lien is improper due to a mistake of fact by requesting a hearing
within 30 days of the mailing date of the notice.  The certified
copy of the court order and the sworn or certified statement of
arrearages will constitute prima facie evidence that the order of
the Director of the Family Support Division within the department
is valid and enforceable.  If a prima facie case is established,
the obligor can only assert mistake of fact as a defense.  The
obligor will have the burden of proof on these issues; and

(3)  Specifies that a current support obligation must not be
recorded in the automated child support system when the
obligation of a parent to make child support payments is deemed
terminated under Section 452.340.

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

The bill:

(1)  Specifies that in determining eligibility and the amount of
benefits to be granted under federally aided state public
assistance programs, the value of any life insurance policy where
a seller or provider is made the beneficiary or the policy is
assigned to a seller or provider, either being in consideration
for an irrevocable prearranged funeral contract under Chapter
436, will not be taken into account or considered an asset of the
beneficiary named in the irrevocable prearranged funeral contract
(Section 208.010);

(2)  Requires, beginning January 1, 2011, the certificate of
title for a new outboard motor to designate the year the motor
was manufactured and the year the dealer received the motor from
the manufacturer (Section 306.532);

(3)  Requires any pleading, other than the interlocutory or final
judgment or any modification thereof, in a dissolution of
marriage, legal separation, or modification proceeding filed
before August 28, 2009, to be subject to inspection only by the
parties, an attorney of record, the Family Support Division
within the Department of Social Services when services are being
provided under Section 454.400, the Attorney General or his or
her designee, a person or his or her designee licensed and acting
under Chapter 381 who must keep any information obtained
confidential except as necessary to the performance of functions
required under the chapter, or upon order of the court for good
cause shown.  Persons authorized to inspect these documents are
allowed to receive or make copies of the documents without
requiring the clerk to redact the Social Security number unless
specifically ordered to do so by the court.  Upon a request, the
clerk must redact the Social Security number from any copy of a
judgment or satisfaction of judgment before releasing the
information to the public.  A pleading or filing that is more
than 72 years old may be made available to any person (Section
452.430);

(4)  Allows any county to use certain court fees collected
pursuant to Section 488.426 for courtroom renovation and
technology enhancement or for debt service on county bonds for
the renovation or enhancement projects.  Currently, the counties
of Clay, Greene, Jackson, Platte, and St. Louis and the City of
St. Louis are not allowed to use the fees for these purposes
(Section 488.429);

(5)  Specifies that an individual who owns or leases private
property may use deadly force against a person who unlawfully
enters, remains after unlawfully entering, or attempts to
unlawfully enter the property.  The owner or lessor of the
private property does not have a duty to retreat from the
property (Sections 563.011 and 563.031);

(6)  Specifies that a person commits the crime of unlawful use of
weapons if he or she knowingly has a firearm or projectile weapon
readily capable of lethal use on his or her person, while he or
she is intoxicated, and handles or otherwise uses the firearm or
projectile weapon in a negligent or unlawful manner or discharges
the firearm or projectile weapon unless acting in self-defense.
All prosecuting attorneys, assistant prosecuting attorneys,
circuit attorneys, and assistant circuit attorneys who have
completed the firearms safety training course required under
Section 571.111 are exempt from the general prohibition on
carrying concealed firearms and from certain other restrictions
in Section 571.030 (Section 571.030);

(7)  Exempts the possession of an antique firearm from the
provision that specifies a person commits the crime of unlawful
possession of a firearm if he or she is a convicted felon
possessing a firearm (Section 571.070); and

(8)  Allows the sheriff of the new jurisdiction of a person who
has been issued a concealed carry endorsement to charge a
processing fee of up to $10 for a change of address on the
endorsement and a sheriff to charge a processing fee of up to $10
to change the name on an endorsement (Sections 571.104 and
571.107).

Missouri House of Representatives
95th General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session
Last Updated September 14, 2010 at 3:11 pm